"But ye mustn't git me into no more house-breakin'
scrapes," he added with a grin. "It's mighty dangerous, miss, fer
amachures, like me an' yer pa!"
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
X
Mary was not wholly pleased at the prospect of visitors, but she fell to
work with Humpy to put the house in order. At five o'clock not one, but
three automobiles drove into the yard, filling Humpy with alarm lest at
last The Hopper's sins had overtaken him, and they were all about to be
hauled away to spend the rest of their lives in prison. It was not the
police, but the young Talbots, with Billie and his grandfathers, on their
way to a family celebration at the house of an aunt of Muriel's.
The grandfathers were restored to perfect amity, and were deeply curious
now about The Hopper, whom the peace-loving Muriel had cajoled into
robbing their houses.
"And you're only an honest chicken farmer, after all!" exclaimed Talbot,
senior, when they were all sitting in a semicircle about the fireplace in
Mary's parlor. "I hoped you were really a burglar; I always wanted to know
a burglar."
Humpy had chopped down a small fir that had adorned the front yard and had
set it up as a Christmas tree--an attention that was not lost upon Billie.
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